How to write a character profile for a book

Writers of effective dialogue include pauses, voice inflections, repetitions, gestures, and other details to suggest the psychological and emotional subtext of a scene. Expand your writing knowledge with these great writing books: What will people say about this person after he or she is gone?

What song was playing on the radio? So I began to write the story anyway, and decided that the hero could join the party later.

The characters in our stories, songs, poems, and essays embody our writing. What the character chooses in that moment is the all-important thing, the infinite pause when heaven and earth hold their breath to see what this person elects to do in her instant of perfect free choice.

Always use specific examples, quotations or dialogues from the book to support your analysis and explain why those examples are significant.

But the character profile sheet is something that I need to make use of from time to time, when I feel like a character is getting lost. He was shy one minute, and cocky the next, knowledgeable about lots of things, but also stupid in the extreme.

In some cases, actions, along with environmental clues, are even more important to character development than the words the characters speak. I looked at my watch. Now, imagine yourself seated with a film executive across a table at a fine restaurant.

Her mouth bowed forward and her brow sloped back, and her skull shone pink and speckled within a mere haze of hair, which hovered about her head like the remembered shape of an altered thing.

It can help flesh out a cardboard character and even make you think about facets of his or her personality that you had not considered before.

Again, be as specific as possible. Often this means breaking a large, generic activity into smaller, more particular parts: Personal Reaction Give your personal reaction as the final paragraph of your report.

Firstly I tried on his likeable, confident, handsome, studious and incredibly witty skin; I expect you will be able to tell immediately that these traits could not work at all in anything that has been written by me, such a person just would not fit, being far too annoyingly perfect.

She wants to keep things the way they are—stay in an abu- sive relationship, give up on her dreams, not stand up for herself, hang on to her bitterness, etc. What do they want? List the last 10 books they read.

But they do not exist until we describe them on the page. What is the one object or possession that they would rescue from their burning home?

I tried it with one of my characters and it worked brilliantly. Click here to order your copy. They weigh nothing; they have no voice. Characters reveal their inner lives—their preoccupations, values, lifestyles, likes and dislikes, fears and aspirations—by the objects that fill their hands, houses, offices, cars, suitcases, grocery carts, and dreams.

Select physical details carefully, choosing only those that create the strongest, most revealing impression. Wait, you mean I could go to jail for that? Tell me about yourself in 30 seconds.

Character Development The bulk of your book report will be about character development. This is not what I had expected, and I tell him as much. How detailed you want your character worksheets to be just depends on what works best for you.

I know that J. I waited a little more. She looked as if the nimbus of humanity were fading away and she were turning monkey. The Seeds of Change The knot is the thing that is wrong with your character.

This poor hero has had some kind of multiple personality disorder, which would have been fine if that was what I had intended; unfortunately, I did really need him to just have the one persona. For example, someone who was abused as a child will most likely react differently in certain situations than someone who had a happy, loving childhood.

Depending on the genre in which you write, you will create additional sections on the Character Profile Worksheet. Cite this Article A tool to create a citation to reference this article Cite this Article. I can order anything I want! Tweet One of the most important elements in a novel or short story is characterization: One character has packed enough pills to stock a drugstore; another has packed a calculator; still another, several packages of condoms.(I offer various templates and examples in my book Savvy Characters Sell Screenplays!).

Use whichever exercise works best for you and your writing style. Whether you’re writing your first draft or nearing your final polish, continue to dig deep into your characters’ minds and souls.

For me, I find that taking the time to write character. When writing a character analysis book report, look beyond the obvious and study underlying traits that affected a character's decisions, relationships and worldview.

It's important to choose an influential character, even though it doesn't have to be a main character, so you'll have solid evidence to.

Understanding a character's opinions and motives can help you write a character analysis, and describe the character's personality traits, role, and significance in a work of literature.

To make this process as easy as possible, it is best to take notes as you read your story or book. Have you ever been told that your characters are too weak? Too underdeveloped? Fix that through our character profile worksheet, which is packed with + questions — all aimed at maxing out your character's potential.

Those are the kinds of characters our character questionnaire is here to help you write. So what makes a good character.

How to Write a Character From Start to Finish.

By: Guest Column | February 11, It’s uplifting to see someone make good choices and improve as a person. Probably your book will be about a character who changes for the best. But these characters can be difficult to write well—and they’re more the exception than the norm.

So let’s. Print this page to complete the form for each main character you create. IMPORTANT: Note that all fields are optional and should be used simply as a guide; character charts should inspire you to think about your character in new ways, rather than constrain your writing.